Transportation releases training guidelines for baggage screeners

The Transportation Department on Friday released training guidelines for airport baggage screeners, outlining a plan to create a high-quality federal workforce. The training plan will teach baggage screeners how to properly check people, bags and cargo; handle stressful situations and resolve conflicts; and maintain a professional rapport with passengers. Baggage screeners must have a minimum of 40 hours of classroom training and 60 hours of on-the-job training under the 2001 Aviation Transportation Security Act, which took effect in November. "The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is firmly committed to creating a screener workforce of the highest quality, one that is instilled with pride and commands the respect of the traveling public," said John W. Magaw, undersecretary of transportation security. The Aviation Transportation Security Act required the agency to release its training guidelines for baggage screeners and flight crews by Jan. 18. The law also called on airlines to begin screening all checked passenger luggage by that date. The agency, which expects to deploy more than 30,000 federal baggage screeners by November 2002, plans to issue a request-for-proposals from contractors to help provide training for the screeners. Training for screeners will be "intensive," according to Magaw. Screeners must be able to perform various duties without becoming distracted, cope with conflicts and 'read' people and situations with a discerning eye. "We intend to offer an attractive and rewarding career path for screeners that will include varied, stimulating work and the chance for promotion," Magaw said. The TSA will begin taking screener applications this spring, but has not yet made any decisions on what level of pay and benefits the employees will receive. For now, U.S. citizens who would like to be considered for screening jobs can register with Transportation by e-mail or phone. The department will send applications to all registered candidates this spring. To sign up, click here. On Friday, Transportation also issued guidelines for flight crews on handling disturbances on board aircraft. The agency directed flight crews to treat any passenger disturbance as suspicious and to act as a team in a threatening situation. Although Transportation did not make the training guidelines public because of national security concerns, the agency did reveal that the guidelines instruct flight crews to land the airplane as soon as possible in the event of a real or suspected hijacking.